Putin: Russia's participation in the Syrian military operation was valuable to the Russian Army

The military operation in Syria has brought great benefit to the Russian defense industry, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a Direct Line Q & A session on Thursday.

"This is of great benefit to our defense industry. The use of the latest weapon types made it possible to understand how they work in combat conditions and how to make the necessary adjustments to the quality of these new weapons systems. We already knew that those are good, functional weapons. However, when we saw how …


The Russian Ministry of Defense commented on NATO fighters escorting Tu-160 bombers

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers flying over neutral waters of the Baltic Sea were shadowed by foreign fighters at different stages of their route.

“On June 15, the Tu-160s conducted scheduled flights over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea. At certain stages of the flight, Russian strategic missile carriers were shadowed by F-16 Falcon jets from the Danish Air Force and F/A-18 Hornet aircraft from the Finnish Air Force, as well as Swedish Air …


The fifth batch of Ukrainian Oplot tanks was delivered to Thailand

Ukraine has provided the fifth batch of new Oplot-T battle tanks  consisting of five machines built at the Malyshev Factory as part of the $240 million contract signed in 2011.

The fifth shipment of Oplots arrived from Ukraine by sea at the Sattahip naval base, according to Interfax-Ukraine. According to the agency, the shipment of armored vehicles was shipped to the Thai customer in March. The next shipment, the sixth is planned for June. The contract is due to be completed by autumn 2017. …


Ukraine and the United States signed a memorandum on cooperation between their legislative bodies

Ukraine and the United States signed a memorandum on cooperation between their legislative bodies, Ukrinform reports. The signing ceremony took place during a meeting between Verkhovna Rada Speaker, Andriy Parubiy and Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Paul Ryan.

"This is an important document that strengthens and structures cooperation between our parliaments," Parubiy said and added that it contains "very important wording" on Ukraine.

"The text of the memorandum states that …


US returns funds to Ukraine which were taken out by Ministry of Justice under former president Yanukovych

The US returned to Ukraine $500,000 which was siphoned off by the former leadership of the Ministry of Justice during Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency and taken out of Ukraine through  fictitious agreements on providing services with an American firm.

“Today the department of international legal cooperation of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, in close cooperation with the US Department of Justice, has returned to Ukraine more than $500, 000,” Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko wrote on …